The 4th Ninja War
by Martial Mathers
Summary: The 4th Ninja War is under way and the Joint Shinobi Army is in a bad position.  Will the Tsuchikage's backup be enough to stop the combined forces of Uchiha Madara and Kabuto?
1. Chapter I: Welcome to Hell

Author's Note: This is a third draft. If you have suggestions or compliments, then give me your review; if you have constructive criticism or editing help, then give me your review; if you have insults or unconstructive criticism, then give me your review anyway (haters gon' hate).

Kinda Important: I have some weird ways of writing some things... _itallics are used to show sarcasm and/or words with abnormally enunciated sylables being used_; **bold words are being shouted and/or emphasized**; (thoughts in the story go in parentheses); due to my weird thing for hand seals, they are written into this story like this *snake - ram - monkey - boar - horse - tiger*, for those of you who are like me those were the seals for Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu (Fire style: Great Fireball Technique).

"This isn't looking good…" said Tsunade as she stood watching the Intel Division of the Joint Shinobi Army working frantically to gather enough backup for General Kitsuchi and Division 2 to handle the 20,000 enemies they had pulled out of the ground."If Mifune can't spare any more units, then where else can we shift our strength away from? Kakashi and Division 3 are fighting a pretty hopeless battle already and Darui and Division 1 have to stay strong where they are in case Madara tries to move his troops across water to attack us behind our lines."

"Gaara has Division 4 stationed just south of Kitsuchi's position, if Gaara weakened his right flank, reinforcements could arrive within a few hours under the command of Nara Shikamaru." reasoned the ever-confident Raikage.

"… or I could call in my connections…" murmured the Tsuchikage, barely loud enough for the other two to hear.

"What are you talking about old man? What have you been hiding?" demanded Raikage.

"Hiding? I would _never_ hide _anything _from _you, _Raikage. You simply never asked" Tsuchikage countered with an amused smile.

"Just tell us what it is that you've kept in reserve!"

"Fine! Shortly after the 3rd Ninja War, the leaders of the Hidden Stone Village were contacted by a group of unaligned shinobi known as the Ryu clan. This clan claimed to live in an unofficial village called the Village Hidden in Hell. They offered to my village their services as ninja mercenaries in the case of another Great Ninja War. I was sent to their village myself to spy on, and then make contact with this clan only to be captured by another Hell Village ninja clan…"

Tsuchikage flashback:

Oonoki is walking along an ominous mountain range along the border of the Earth Country.

"Hey there. You know you shouldn't be here, right?" said a voice coming from Oonoki's left side.

"Hmmm? Who do you think you are? Some kind of security guard? How about you stop hiding like a coward and show yourself" Oonoki demanded.

"I'm not hiding, but if you insist…" a short, strongly built man slowly walked out from behind a nearby ridge carrying a guitar, "here I am. Now, who are _you_ why are _you_ here?"

"Who am _I?_** I'm Oonoki, the man who always has it both ways! The inheritor of the terrifying title of Tsuchikage!**"

"Oh, ok. So _you're_ that egotistical midget they told me about. Yeah, we've been expecting you."

"What did you just call me!"

"Relax man, I was only joking. I wouldn't be so quick to insult our first guest and potential customer since Shodaime Hokage. However, I am going to have to ask that you listen to my music for a moment."

"Wait… so you were expecting me? How did you know I was coming here? And who are you? A member of the Ryu clan?"

"So many questions… you gotta chill, man. Here, I'll help you."

"What are you - "

At once he started playing his guitar and singing "_When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me speaking words of wisdom, let it be._"

Oonoki stood awestruck by the beauty of the music as the mysterious man finished the song and without missing a beat continued on to play a 20 minute long medley of the best music Oonoki had ever heard. When the man was done, he played a chord on his guitar and the scenery around Oonoki suddenly changed from an open mountain range to a dimly-lit, spacious tunnel with veins of glowing crystals running along the walls.

"I'm sorry about the genjutsu, but I was instructed to lead you here without allowing you to remember which way you came. I do hope you enjoyed the concert though, I'd be interested to hear the opinion of the first man to have heard me play those songs and lived."

"So it _was_ a genjutsu. That was a very powerful technique for someone who has an illegitimate village insignia on a metal plate fastened to his guitar's shoulder strap."

The other ninja smiled, "I know what you're trying to do. By calling my village illegitimate, you hope to agitate me into giving you information about my village in my attempts to prove that it's legit. But that information is not to be revealed to you quite yet. However, you did ask my name earlier so I will tell you that. I am Gungaku Kankyou of the Gungaku clan, ninja of the Village Hidden in Hell."

"So you _are _one of them! I thought so because of your confidence!"

"And _you _are a racist bastard! Just because I'm confident you automatically _assumed_ I was from the Hell Village! You little son of a bitch!"

"Don't you talk about my mother that way!"

"**Oh**, you want me to talk about your mother? Well yo mama so ugly when she entered an ugly contest, they said 'sorry, no professionals!'"

(what would Killer Bee do in this position…) Oonoki responds angrily, "That may be true, but I wrote a haiku, about yo mama for you! Yo mama expands, filling air like morning fog, infinite fat one!"

"**Oh no you didn't!**"

"Why yes, yes I did!"

Just as Kankyou is about to start playing his guitar, a cluster of nearby crystals starts glowing more intensely until another man emerges from the luminescence seeming to materialize in the now blinding light.

"That's enough from both of you. Tsuchikage, you will be temporarily detained until General Ryu is ready for you; Kankyou, you are dismissed until further notice."

"_You _detain _me?_ Ha! Do you know who I am? I'm Oonoki, the man who always has it both ways! The inheritor of the terrifying title of Tsuchikage!"

"I can see how you got annoyed with this one, Kankyou…"

"**What was that!**"

"Oh, nothing… nothing at all Tsuchikage-sama. Now, if you wouldn't mind standing still for just a little bit… *tiger-dog-dragon-boar-bird-snake* … and now, you are trapped in my jutsu."

Oonoki was about to laugh at the man again only to realize that he couldn't laugh, or move. His eyes searched desperately for a reason why to no avail. The strange man made the bird handseal, projecting a beam of light from the space between his fingers and his thumbs. The light was aimed just a little bit over Oonoki's head and suddenly all that he could see was a giant image of the man's face as it spoke to him.

"You _probably_ have a few questions for me right now, and I'll address the obvious ones and you can figure out the answers to any other questions on your own. First, my name is Hoshi Yamamoto of the Hoshi clan and, like Kankyou, I am a shinobi of the Hell Village. Second, you can't move because you are currently stuck inside of a large crystal, similar to the ones in the walls of this cave. Third, I put you in that crystal because I was told to keep you here until the General is ready for you, should you arrive earlier than expected. Fourth, you can see this projection of my face because I am manipulating my beam of light which is being projected onto the front panel of the crystal. Fifth, General Ryu should be arriving in a couple of minutes and you may consult with him on those matters which you have arrived to discuss with him at that time."

Fifteen minutes later, Oonoki heard the sound of his crystal-prison shattering around him and he came face to face with a tall, masked man wearing red, orange, yellow, and black clothes accompanied by Kankyou and Yamamoto.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late… You see I had to file some paperwork for the new teams…"

"Don't bullshit us Akaton, you were reading your new weapons catalogue, weren't you?" said a less than impressed Kankyou.

"The least you could do is not make me lose face in front of our potential customer…"

"Whatever."

"Okay, so you came to discuss the possibility of an arrangement between my mercenaries and your ninja village, right Tsuchikage?"

"I suppose…" replied Oonoki, overwhelmed by the speed at which things were happening.

"Well then let's go to my office to discuss this, shall we?"

(That would be a great way to disguise a little bit of spying, and it might be my only chance to do so) "That sounds like a great idea," replied Oonoki.

"Okay then, follow me."


	2. Chapter II: Back to Reality

Chapter II: Back to Reality

"Is it just me, or is it starting to get warmer in here?" asked Oonoki as he followed the General through the stone passage.

"It's not so much that _it's_ getting _warmer_, but _we're_ getting _closer_" replied the General, who seemed to be getting more comfortable and energetic as the temperature rose.

Just as Oonoki didn't think he could stand the ever-increasing heat anymore, the tunnel suddenly opened up to reveal the inside of a massive volcano.

"Tsuchikage - dono, welcome to the Village Hidden in Hell."

As he looked around the inside of the volcano, Oonoki was stunned to see massive buildings carved into the rock face.

"If you would like to tour the village, I would be more than happy to take you through it while we discuss the possibility of a defense contract." Akaton offered, noting the look of surprise on his guest's face.

"I think that I'll take that offer, however do we have to take the long way over to the village?" Oonoki asked indicating the long ledge that they were standing on, which extended around the inside of the volcano and into the village on the other side of the gigantic lava pool.

"Well if my intel on the Stone Village is any good, you have the ability to fly there. So you can go on ahead and I'll catch up soon enough." And with that General Ryu dove head-first into the lava-filled center of the volcano.

After the initial surprise, Oonoki decided that he had seen stranger things before and he quickly made his flight to the village where he observed huge crowds of villagers going about their daily business instead of the militant society he was expecting to see in a mercenary base. As he was pondering this, he heard a loud splashing sound from behind him.

Looking for the source of the noise, he saw a brilliant cascade of glowing magma bursting forth from the nearest edge of the lava pool, out of which flew the red-hot figure of a person. As the figure adjusted its flight-path toward him, Oonoki realized that he was watching the General taking his own shortcut to the village.

When Akaton silently landed he brushed himself off and turned to Oonoki explaining, "Sorry I took so long, it's not quite as fast as flying directly to the location."

Flashback Interrupted:

"Wait a minute, you're telling us that this guy just jumped into a pool of lava and started flying toward you… then acted like it was no big deal? This sounds a little strange if you ask me." Stated Tsunade skeptically.

"You honestly expect us to believe that you were taken to some mercenary general's 'Secret Volcano Lair' where they gave you a tour of a village that doesn't exist? I hope you're able to back-up this bullshit with proof, because I am **not** entertained by your story." Added an annoyed Raikage.

"Well… actually… uh…" Stammered Oonoki, trying to remember what he was supposed to do when he needed to call on the ever-present mercenaries for help.

Suddenly there was a loud blast heard coming from the hallway just outside the Command Room.

In through the newly-scorched door came a large amount of smoke and a tall, blond ninja wearing a pair of black pants, a leather belt bearing a three-triangle insignia on its buckle, a pair of black and red basketball shoes, and no shirt whatsoever.

"Get out the _way_, pretty-boy comin' _through!_"

While Oonoki seemed greatly relieved by the entrance of this unexpected guest, the other leaders as well as the sensory and communications teams instantly leapt into combat positions.

"Uhh… sorry about the door… I coulda gotten in through one of your other gaps in security, but this one seemed like more fun…" awkwardly explained the intruder, scratching the back of his neck.

When he noticed that the other shinobi weren't lowering their weapons, he got visibly nervous "I don't want no trouble… I just couldn't help but overhear my village being described a little earlier, which probably means that you guys are prepared to enlist our… services."

"I should probably explain, a contact from the Hell village is supposed to be near me at all times," (though I seldom know their exact location) "so that I can hire them on a moment's notice." explained the Tsuchikage.

"Yeah, that's me! I was recently assigned though since it was anticipated that you might want our help fighting the war and my team was already reserved as the elite" bragged the young ninja.

"Return to your duties!" Tsuchikage ordered, "Raikage – dono and Ryu – san have business to discuss."

A/N: Yes, this chapter is really short despite taking me months to complete. And yes I ended the flashback way earlier than I planned to. Both of these are a result of the impossibly awkward situation that occured at the end of the flashback. Please review. If you do not review Shady will get angry, you won't like Shady when Shady gets angry... (RIP Natedogg)


	3. ChapterIII:Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

I own Yamamoto, Akaton, Kankyou, Kage, and Marasu; no more, maybe less. If I owned Naruto or its concepts I wouldn't be writing this on fanfiction. And now that I've pointed out the obvious…

Chapter III: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

"Alright, so you're some kind of mercenary here to convince me that you're worth my time and money to hire, am I right?" clarified Raikage as he stood up from his seat.

"In a nutshell, yes. I'm also interested in learning about your workout regiment, but that's beside the point," confirmed the mercenary as he absent-mindedly looked around the room.

"Then let's see what you can do. If you can successfully defend yourself against my left arm, then you're hired," challenged the Raikage, who suddenly leapt over a table bringing himself face to face with the young ninja.

"I accept. What are the rules of engagement? I suspect that you would like for me to avoid destroying your only remaining arm, correct?" taunted the Ryu clan fighter with a smile.

He had seen how recklessly the Raikage had lost his right arm in his fight with Uchiha Sasuke and looked forward to humiliating the man with a quick victory.

(Maybe I won't even have to use my clan's kinjutsu. But then I doubt I'd get an assignment worthy of my team's skill level.)

The Raikage snorted in frustration at the taunt, "The rules are that you may not use genjutsu. That way all attacks are real and no fake shit can save you from your pending doom!"

"Your rules of engagement are accepted." (I don't know any genjutsu anyway) "You may attack when ready, Raikage-sama."

"Just out of interest, I would like to know the name of the man I am about kill" sneered the Raikage.

"Ha ha, such confidence! Very well, 'We who are about to die salute you.' I am Ryu Marasu and as you will soon see, I live up to my name."

As he said this, a tattoo gradually formed itself on Marasu's well-defined abs. When it was fully visible it displayed a 'fire' kanji character within the center triangle of a Mitsu-uroko.

"You seem to be full of surprises, Marasu-kun. However, so am I." And with that the Raikage charged Marasu with lightning-enhanced speed, his outstretched fist making contact with… glass?

As the black-colored volcanic glass shattered under the force of the blow, Raikage caught a glimpse of something he had completely missed only a few seconds earlier. Marasu's left palm was glowing a bright orange.

"Lava-style? But you didn't even make any hand seals! How could you have possibly utilized a kekkei genkai like that without mixing the earth chakra from one hand with the fire chakra from the other?"

"I did mix them," explained Marasu, "like this."

He held up his right hand with the thumb and index finger glowing red, the ring finger and little finger glowing brown, and the middle finger down against the palm.

He then touched the index finger to the ring finger causing the glow on all four fingers to turn orange and start dripping lava.

"Very impressive Marasu-kun, I suspect that the appearance of your tattoo was intended to distract me from the glowing in your hand?"

"Hindsight is 20-20, eh Raikage-sama? It's a strategy rather similar to this one."

"What do you mean?"

"Lava-Style: Magma-Bullet Jutsu!"

Raikage barely managed to recognize the danger in time to react to the surprise-attack, which proceeded to melt a small hole into the ground where it gathered in a small puddle.

"You are indeed full of surprises, Marasu-kun; but if you intend to stop me now that I'm warmed up, you're going to have to do a lot better than that."

"Well, in that case I guess I'll start trying too."

"Stop acting tough, it's starting to get on my nerves."

"Then why don't we let our fists do the talking. Or, in your case, I guess it's just fist."

"**If you make **_**one **_**more comment about my right arm…**"

"What you gonna do? Shout me to death?"

Raikage slammed his fist literally into the ground shouting, "**Lightning-Style: Magnetic Puppet Jutsu!**"

Marasu suddenly found himself being swung around the room by his metal belt buckle.

(Shit! I better go full-power fast, before he uses this to hold me still and punch a hole in me!)

Marasu ran through a few clumsy seals *boar – dog – bird – monkey – ram,* drew blood from his thumb with a bite, and pressed his hand to the wall he was being slammed into. "Summoning Jutsu!"

There was a small puff of smoke out of which a full-grown Bengal tiger fell to the ground, landing on its side.

"**Oww! Dammit, Marasu,** we've been over this! You can't summon me on walls or bad things happen. I'm just lucky I didn't happen to be face-down that time or I would have been knocked out!" lectured the tiger as it got to its feet.

Marasu explained in between getting slammed into walls, "Sorry… about that… Kage, I… didn't have… many options… dammit… this hurts… could you… distract the… really strong… black guy… for me?"

"Well, I find this rather entertaining," responded Kage with amusement, "I guess I could help you out, but only if you have something to offer me as an incentive…"

"How about… a gemstone… it's really… shiny…" Marasu negotiated.

"It's shiny! We've got a deal!"

With that the tiger turned and leaped onto the Raikage's back, sinking his claws into Raikage's muscular shoulders.

"Sorry about this, it's nothing personal. I just really want that shiny gemstone," growled Kage apologetically.

Soon Raikage couldn't stand the pain in his shoulders anymore and grabbed Kage by the neck and flung him across the room, where he skidded to a stop on his padded feet.

Marasu, having been freed from the Raikage's jutsu, quickly took off his belt.

(That should prevent another Magnetic Puppet Jutsu from working. Now it's time to take this fight to the next level,) decided Marasu.

"Are you ready, Raikage-sama? From this point forward you had better go hard or go home." *dragon* "Dragon Armor Jutsu!"

The 'fire' tattoo on Marasu's abs started to glow yellow as red scales started to emerge on top of his skin, starting on the tattoo and continued to spread until his body was covered in reptilian scales from his collarbone, to his wrists, to his ankles.

Shining through the thick layer of armor-like scales was an orange Mitsu-uroko similar to the one on his tattoo underneath, the only differences being that the symbol was now written in chakra and there was no longer a 'fire' kanji in the center-triangle. It had been replaced by another kanji character, the character meaning 'dragon.'

"This is the battle armor of the Ryu clan. The scales are extremely difficult to penetrate with a physical attack, thus protecting my body. The Dragon Seal is also very loose in this state, loose enough to allow a considerable amount of the dragon's chakra to flow through me.

"This is only a sample of the power that I am marketing to you. Once I disable your arm, you'll be obligated to hire my team, which you now see is obviously to your advantage."

Marasu was really enjoying his position of power over the Raikage, who was now staring in disbelief at the incredible display of raw power before him.

(No one man should have all this power) thought Raikage as Marasu took up a familiar fighting stance

Turning sideways with one arm fully extended to his opponent and the other back with the body ready to strike. Both of his hands were open but tense and rigid.

(There's only one taijutsu style that looks like this! But surely he can't possess the Byakugan, can he!)

The scales covering Marasu's body began glowing a brilliant red, orange, and yellow creating a flame-like aura around him. The mercenary smirked at the look of sheer terror on the Raikage's face.

"Gentle Fist of the Dragon!"

A/N:

Yes, Marasu is strong. However if you continue to read, in the next few chapters you will become very aware of his many shortcomings that make him much weaker than he seems to be right now. That being said, I'm going to explain some things that might confuse some people:

The Mitsu-uroko is the crest of some powerful Japanese family that I came across while online; it is where the design for the triforce (if you're familiar with the Zelda games) came from. If you're not familiar with the Zelda games, then you can use Google to search the name of the thing.

No Marasu is not in any way related to the Mizukage or to Kurotsuchi, it has been shown in the Naruto manga that a relatively large number of people are capable of utilizing the youton (lava-style) kekkei genkai; including the clans of both of the previously named characters as well as the yonbi jinchuuriki, it's not that much of a stretch that the Ryu clan would also possess this talent.

'Ryu' is the Japanese word for 'dragon,' those of you who didn't know that are probably having an epiphany right now.

'Marasu' is a Japanese name that I believe can be translated into English as 'born of fire' or something along the lines of that. If I'm wrong please let me know (and while you're at it, comment on the story).

Yes, these chapters will get longer once I actually start telling the story, so far it's all part of the set-up and it's really annoying me.

In all seriousness, I suffer of a mental condition that causes me to live in constant doubt of my own abilities and any comment that could either tell me how to write better, tell me what I'm doing wrong, or possibly tell me what I'm doing right (if anything) would be greatly appreciated. The first person to review will be given the **option** to be written into the story as the fourth OC on Marasu's team. This means that I will ask you a few questions about how you want to be portrayed (in ninja form) and I will create that character exactly the way that you tell me to.

Please review, so far I'm _talkin to myself, cause I am my own consultant. Married to the money, fuck the world, that's adultery._

Yes, I do feel the need to make as many rap references as possible in each chapter of this fanfiction :P


	4. Chapter IV: My Band

Hey everybody, I finally have the new chapter done. I don't own Naruto and/or its concepts. Please don't sue me. And now a word from my second favorite Naruto character and Martial's official Naruto Character of the Week:

"Man, without me, this story's been boring;

I'm ready to go, my fuckin' engines are roaring;

It's 'bout time my bro and his crew departed;

This is my story, so let's get this shit started."

Chapter IV: My Band

Marasu advanced quickly, attacking the Raikage with a series of quick, open-handed strikes. This style definitely wasn't the Gentle Fist of the Hyuuga clan. It was, however, different from most styles that the Raikage had seen before; while many styles emphasized power, this one emphasized precision; while most styles emphasized fluidity of movement, this one seemed to entirely rely on jerky motions.

Before long, the Raikage saw an opening and sent a punch straight through it to Marasu's torso. Sending him flying into a wall.

"I got you!" Raikage shouted triumphantly.

"Oww… that hurt even through the dragon scales…" said Marasu as he fell from the wall to the floor. "No more games, big guy, here I come!"

The air around Marasu's fists slowly started to glow red with chakra until each fist was surrounded by red masses of chakra in the shapes of two tigers' heads. "Fire Step: Twin Tiger Fists!"

Marasu proceeded to leap into the air, heading for the Raikage.

"This will be _easy_, you're barely even a moving target!" commented the Raikage confidently.

When Marasu was within reach, he and the Raikage both threw a punch at each other and their fists collided.

Marasu's attack was far more powerful than the Raikage had expected and he was almost thrown back by the force of its impact. But by using some of his incredible chakra reserve, he pumped lightning chakra into his punch to match the power of the Tiger Fist.

"**Here it comes!**" shouted Marasu over the noise of the Raikage's lightning. And with that, he slammed the other Tiger Fist into the inside of the Raikage's elbow.

As soon as the second Tiger Fist made contact with his elbow, the Raikage felt a burning pain as all of the muscles in his arm started to shut down.

"Don't bother trying to force your chakra network to reopen, it's not _closed_. Your muscles took that hit to their weak spot and now they _froze_."

"Grrr… fine then, I guess you're hired… do you have a request as to where you and your team will be assigned?"

"I do actually; I would like to ask that my team, as well as a small group of ninjas from your army, relieve the current guard protecting the remaining jinchuurikis," Marasu replied as his reptilian armor receded back into the seal on his stomach.

"And why should I entrust _you_ with the protection of the highest priority assets this army possesses?"

"Because my team is the best and I have access to an ancient Ryu clan fortress."

"I shall have to inspect your team, but what makes you so sure that this fortress is safe enough to contain Uzumaki and my brother?"

"Because there are only five people left alive who even know that it exists."

The Raikage raised his eyebrows. "And who are those five people?" he asked.

"The other 4 captains of the Ryu Mercenaries and myself, the fifth captain of the Ryu Mercenaries."

"Where are these other captains?"

"Currently stationed in defensive positions around the fortress until I send word that they are to do otherwise."

"Where is the fortress?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Haha, well said. Show me your team and give me a list of the soldiers that you want to take with you, then I'll judge whether the jinchuurikis are safer with you or with their current guards."

Satisfied that his team would prove to be far more powerful than the current guard, Marasu agreed. Taking a small, faintly glowing crystal from his pocket he said, "Alright, here they come." And with that he tossed the crystal into the air.

Suddenly the crystal's glowing intensified rapidly until the entire room was flooded with a blinding light.

Then the crystal's light vanished, revealing a tall, powerfully-built young man carrying a red and black viola on his back. Standing next to him was a short girl who had a large, steel sword strapped to her back.

As the crystal fell through the air the girl reached out her hand, catching it.

"Raikage-sama, meet my team," Marasu said, smiling slightly.

"I'm Gungaku Tomoya, genjutsu specialist, powerful taijutsu user, and wielder of my clan's special musical-weaponry," said the young man in a deep, proud tone.

"And I'm Hoshi Mai, I'm in charge of flashy entrances and being awesome," the girl said playfully.

"Mai, would you _please_ be serious for once in your life?" said Marasu as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Fine... my name is Hoshi Mai, and in addition to doing the flashy entrances and being awesome, I help the team with my long-range ninjutsu, my defensive ninjutsu, and my advanced kenjutsu," Mai said, with much less enthusiasm.

"Thank you, Mai." Said Marasu.

"And what is your position on this team?" asked the Raikage, still blinking off the effects of Tomoya's and Mai's big entrance.

"Captain Ryu Marasu, highly versatile ninjutsu specialist, creator and only known user of the Gentle Fist of the Dragon taijutsu style, and wielder of all sorts of light weapons," replied Marasu.

"And what exactly does your team specialize in?" the Raikage inquired.

Marasu smiled confidently as he replied, "Tactical defense against far superior numbers."

After some consideration, the Raikage said, "I will take you to meet with my brother, he is the one who knows the current situation best."

"Alright," agreed Marasu and Tomoya, who both pretended not to hear Mai complaining that she didn't want to walk anywhere.

And so, a few minutes later, Marasu and Tomoya were seen walking across a field outside the Shinobi Army's headquarters and toward the gigantic island-tortoise with the Raikage leading them and Mai riding on Marasu's back. Hidden in the shadows, Marasu's tiger summon, Kage, followed them to ensure that there would be no unwelcome surprises.

Upon entering the cave that housed the jinchuurikis, the Raikage tapped a vein of ore in the stone wall and sent a small amount of electricity into it which was conducted deep into the cave by the metal.

"That electricity should reach down to where my brother is currently training Uzumaki. He will sense the lightning chakra it is carrying and be here soon. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a division of troops that might die if I don't get them some relief fast." The Raikage said with some anxiety.

"Here," Tomoya said as he extracted a scroll from his pocket, "this scroll contains a one-use summoning-seal. It will summon twenty-five Hell Village Ninja that you may send to back up your men."

"We can discuss payment for our services once this war is won, since it seems that you have little time for such things at the moment. We will report back to you immediately if your brother denies us our request," added Marasu.

"I thank you for your help and on my way back I will inform your tiger, Marasu, that you have made it safely to your destination and that he no longer needs to stand guard outside the cave entrance," replied the Raikage gratefully as he took the scroll from Tomoya. Then he quickly exited the cave and got back to his headquarters.

"I'd say that went well," stated Marasu, once the Raikage had left.

"Hell yeah! Our first big-time job since killing that damn Hyuuga who found out about Hiashi's business dealings with us," recalled Tomoya.

"I'm still not sure how he got a team of ANBU to follow him into our base in Konoha, but that _was_ a fun fight," Marasu elaborated.

"You're still thinking about including his daughter in the defense team we're gonna request, aren't you?" Tomoya stated more than asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" responded Marasu with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"Why? We've already decided to ask for her cousin, the best damn fighter in the Hyuuga clan. Hinara, or whatever her name is, isn't even good at anything. What possible reason could there be to have her with us?" argued Tomoya.

"Because she's probably our best way to make Uzumaki Naruto stay with us instead of running off into some battlefield somewhere and getting himself captured or killed. You weren't at the Konoha base during the Pain attack, but when he thought that she had died, his rage triggered an immediate, two-thirds transformation into the Nine Tailed Fox. If the information that we got from Hiashi is correct, the closest he had ever come to a full transformation before that was four-ninths. There's something about that girl that I think we can use to force Uzumaki to cooperate with us," Marasu explained.

"Whatever, man. She creeps me out though, just sayin'," said Tomoya with a sigh.

"At least I'm requesting Hyuugas and not Aburames, haha. Do you remember the last time that we fought an Aburame? Akaton was with us and the minute that guy started using insect-techniques, Akaton freaked out and hid inside of his Earth-Dome Jutsu for the next three hours," recalled Marasu.

"You're never gonna let him live that one down, are you, Marasu?" said a smiling Tomoyo.

"Nope," replied Marasu.

"I'm sick of this dark cave," said Mai, still hanging on Marasu's back, "let me down for a minute."

"If I put you down, I'm not gonna let you get back up," warned Marasu.

"Fine, just put me down," Mai decided.

Marasu knelt down so that Mai's feet were at ground level and as soon as she had let go of him, Mai ran through a few hand seals *Boar – Rabbit – Bird* which caused her skin to start glowing which illuminated the cave.

In the new light that Mai was providing, the figure of a person could be seen standing nearby within the cave.

"**Hey! Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?**" shouted Marasu, surprised that somebody had managed to get so close to his team without Tomoyo's powerful sense of hearing detecting their presence.

"I'm looking for my brother, where is _he_? I was trying to learn who you could _be_. But that was before you could _see_. And as for _me_..." the man said in a rhythmic voice as he stepped out of the shadows, "I'm the Eight Tails, fresh rappin' _Killer Bee_."

Author's Note(s):

I apologize for the extremely late (even by my standards) update. My hard drive went bad and died on me a couple of weeks into the summer (right when I had finished writing my first version of this chapter, which was much more awesome than this one) and it took about a month and a half to get it fixed. After that I had to work on my Eagle Scout Project, which I hope to finish by the end of this year (wish me luck).

Thank you to the first person to write a review for me: RollingStar104. I would ask that you please do tell me some things that you would have done differently since this whole story-writing thing is still somewhat new to me. Also, if you would like to take me up on my offer to be written into the story, you can Private Message me and I will start creating a character for you immediately.

I would like to challenge anyone who reads this story to try and find as many of the references to music, movies, and/or (direct quotes from) the Naruto manga that I have in this story so far. You can post the number of references that you found and/or some of your favorite ones.

Please review. –Puts gun to own head- "everyone review or the author gets it" (yes, this is one of those references that I mentioned before).


	5. Chapter V: Beneath Locked Doors

I still don't own Naruto :(

Chapter V: Beneath Locked Doors

"Man, that was tight! I like you already! It's alright, guys, this is the one that we were waiting for. I read his info card when we were preparing for the mission, the description matches him perfectly," said Marasu, who was obviously pleased with Killer Bee's introduction.

Mai and Tomoya exchanged looks of annoyance with Bee's rapping, but nodded their heads to show that they trusted Marasu's identification.

"Your brother, the Raikage, took us here and sent for you before returning to headquarters so that we could meet with you. We are recently hired mercenaries who would like to take over the job of protecting you and Uzumaki Naruto," Marasu stated.

"It would seem that your brother thought that we were impressive enough to justify sending us to you so that you could decide whether or not we are fit to replace your current guards," added Tomoya confidently.

"Don't forget to tell him about Marasu's top-secret castle thingy!" Mai said, growing rather excited.

"It's an ancient Ryu clan fortress, Mai, not a 'castle thingy'," corrected Marasu as he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I still wanna go!" replied Mai, ignoring Marasu's irritated tone of voice.

"_Whoa_, _Whoa_, one thing at a time, _yo_. You wanna protect and my boy _Naruto_, at some 'top-secret fort thing' is that _so_?" rapped Killer Bee as he tried to sort through all the information that he had just heard.

"Ugh, does he do that every time he talks?" Mai complained.

"I think he does, which is pretty awesome if you ask me. And yes, Bee, that is essentially what we were trying to say when we all got a bit carried away," confirmed Marasu.

"Any change in location is fine with _me_, I'll give the word and we'll all leave _immediately_," Killer Bee decided without a second thought.

"Great! We'll wait outside the cave for you and Uzumaki to pack up and prepare to depart," said Marasu.

And with that Killer Bee went back down into the cave to make the necessary preparations, while the mercenaries walked in the opposite direction, back to the cave entrance where they awaited the arrival of the two jinchuurikis.

Killer Bee emerged from the cave about twenty minutes later carrying a small backpack, eight of his own swords, and Samehada on his back, and an unconscious Naruto in his arms.

"The kid still can't know about the _war_, so where's this fort that we're heading _for_?" Killer Bee asked.

After almost nine hours of running southward at incredible speeds, the four ninjas set down their burdens as Marasu stood examining a map in front of a great mountain somewhere within the Fire Country.

"Alright, this should be the one. Now we just have to find an insignia carved into the stone somewhere," concluded Marasu.

"That shouldn't be hard, what exactly does this insignia look like?" Tomoya asked.

"Well… I'm not exactly sure… you see, nobody has even attempted to access this particular fortress since its use in the First Great Ninja War… this map shows a few symbols, and I guess any of them could be the one that we're looking for," explained Marasu as he scratched the back of his head.

"… Nothing is ever easy with you, is it… whatever, let's take a look at those symbols," Tomoya replied with resignation in his voice.

"These five are the kanji characters for 'fire,' 'water,' 'earth,' 'wind,' and 'lightning.' They probably refer to the five elemental ninjutsu styles, the five Great Nations, or the five Ryu clan captains. I bet that it's the last one though," observed Marasu as the four conscious ninjas gathered around the map in his hands.

"That one looks kinda like a sharingan, and the one next to it looks a little bit like a rinnegan. I'll bet the third one is supposed to be a byakugan," Mai said as she pointed out three more of the symbols on the map.

"The last one is a yin-yang symbol," Tomoya pointed out as he looked at the map.

"Alright," said Marasu, "usually when the Ryu clan seals an entrance, we leave a marking that works kind of like a lock. And this 'lock' will usually be in the shape of the kanji character that corresponds to the Dragon Seal of a specific Ryu clansman. That clansman's Dragon Seal serves as the 'key.'"

"So what you're saying is that our best chance of getting in is to find the 'fire' insignia and have you work your magic?" clarified Tomoya.

"Exactly. Let's do it," confirmed Marasu.

As it turned out, finding the symbol they wanted was much easier than any of them had expected. As they explored the area around the mountain, they found that it was encircled by nine rectangular slates of rock, each bearing a symbol that matched one of those they saw on the map.

"Here it goes," Marasu said as he approached the slate with the 'fire' character etched into it.

*Dragon* "Dragon Seal Jutsu!" Suddenly the 'fire' character appeared in a Mitsu-uroko on Marasu's chest, but this time glowing-red lines that made up a complex seal extended outward from the triangles, creating a visible outline of his inner-coils system. One of the lines stopped on his right palm where a kanji character meaning 'key' had formed itself.

Marasu pressed this character to the 'fire' character on the slate.

Upon contact with Marasu's 'key' the character on the slate glowed violently red and proceeded to emit flames that burned an unnatural, blood red.

"It's called hellfire, don't touch it or it will burn through your hand before you even know what happened," warned Marasu as he placed his hands next to it and started absorbing it into his body.

"**What the hell are you doing?** I thought you said that this stuff was dangerous!" Mai shouted.

"It is… to you. Hellfire is my specialty though, Tomoya, can you help me explain this?" responded Marasu.

"You know that Marasu's Dragon Seal gives him access to the chakra of a powerful dragon that is basically made of fire, right?" Tomoya began.

"Yeah…"

"So made of fire, right?" Tomoya began.

"Yeah…"

"Well, hellfire is a name given to a flame so hot that it isn't possible to create without using the fire dragon's chakra. And since Marasu's body has adapted to carrying that dragon's chakra, he can use any simple chakra-leeching technique to convert hellfire back into chakra without needing to worry that his inside will catch on fire," explained Tomoya.

"Oh, okay. I think I get it now."

"And I'm done," Marasu said as he absorbed the last of the hellfire.

Just as the hellfire was entirely removed from the slate, it slid backward to reveal a staircase descending deep into the earth.

"Looks like we found our _entrance_, now let's get inside and make ourselves the new _tenants_," rapped Killer Bee.

Guided by the light of Mai's Room Illumination Jutsu, the four of them carried their gear, as well as their comrade, down the staircase and into the fortress. What they saw at the bottom of the stairs shocked them all.

The bones of hundreds of people lay strewn about on the floor of the fortress in front of a 20 foot tall gateway that led into a vast courtyard area.

"Damn… looks like shit went down in here during the First Great Ninja War…" Marasu said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I'd say this is why nobody wanted to use this fortress," added Tomoya as they all looked around at the remains of a few hundred ninja.

"Hey, come take a look at this guy's armor. It's mostly intact and it's got an Uchiha crest on it," Mai called out while examining a skeleton.

Upon closer inspection, a number of crests had remained identifiable. By looking at these crests, the exploring ninjas discovered that members of the Hyuuga clan, Gungaku clan, and some lesser members of the Ryu clan had also fought here. They also found something that made all of them feel uneasy.

"These aren't normal scorch marks," Marasu said as he looked at the skeletal remains of someone who was burned to death. "See this linear pattern left where the fire originated? Only one kind of flame leaves that kind of pattern. The Black Flames, Amaterasu. This fortress was attacked by Uchiha Madara, he knows that it's here and, more importantly, it seems that he knows how to get in…"

Author's Note:

Hey, I decided to try to make up for not publishing all summer, by publishing two chapters within a few days of each other. Since I did write this one in only one day, please review to point out the things that I missed due to the rush. Thank you, Martialis Mathers


	6. Chapter VI: The Cribb

I don't own Naruto and/or its concepts.

Chapter VI: The Cribb

"Shit, man. That's bad. We've gotta get the fuck out of this place before he comes and kills us all," said Tomoya as he started to panic.

"I agree with Tomoya on this one, we _need_ to get out of here _fast_," Mai added.

"Whoa, just because Madara knows about this place doesn't mean that he knows that we're here. This changes nothing. Don't forget that we have the rest of my clan's leaders, as well as their teams, camped out around this mountain. Tomoya, you've seen Akaton fight, you know that his strategies are unbeatable. And Mai, you were there when we backed up Jakobi and he took out three Uchihas so fast that their sharingans never even saw him move. And that's just two of the captains. The Water Ryu and the Wind Ryu are both just as powerful. Plus you've got me, your last line of defense," Marasu said, ending in his nice-guy pose.

"He does have a point," agreed Tomoya reluctantly, "I guess we could look around the rest of the fortress and decide whether we want to stay here or not after we know what this place has to offer in terms of defense."

"Fine, we can look around, but this place had better be pretty damn awesome if we're going to stay here," Mai consented.

"Alright then, let's go," said Marasu as he started to pass through the large gateway.

After roughly an hour of exploring the fortress, the mercenaries and Killer Bee found that the walls were laid out as one circle that surrounded another smaller circle that had a few irregularities in it and a large, central column that seemed to serve as a means of keeping the mountain from collapsing in on the fortress. As they had expected, the fortress contained an armory, kitchen, training room, infirmary, quartermaster's office, bathrooms, soldiers' quarters, workshop, treasury, officers' quarters, and command center. In addition to this, however, the explorers also found a chemical laboratory, extensive library, natatorium, and indoor garden. The armory, infirmary, treasury, laboratory, and library were all reasonably stocked with supplies and equipment as well.

"Is this awesome enough for you, Mai?" Marasu asked, having clearly won.

"Yeah, we can stay," responded Mai, still shocked at how livable the fortress already was.

"Ok then. Now that that's been settled… I call sleeping in the armory!" Marasu exclaimed with a sudden change in tone as he ran to put his bag into the room filled with weapons.

"Only he would be so eager to pass up staying in the officers' quarters to sleep on the ground with about a million sharp objects around him…" stated Mai as she took her bag straight to an officer's room located across the hall from the library.

"Feel free to get yourself and the Fox Kid set up in whatever rooms you would like. If we need you, Marasu will shout for you (you could hear _him _from a mile away)," Tomoya offered to Killer Bee as he started looking for the room of the highest-ranking officer that he could find.

(I still don't _know_ what I'm going to tell _Naruto_. Maybe it's time _though_ to tell him 'bout the war _yo_) Killer Bee thought as he set Naruto and his bag down in a bedroom that was just across the hall from the training room.

Killer Bee proceeded to set his own gear out in a Lieutenant's former room because it was the nearest bedroom to the library before deciding that he should wait in Naruto's room until he woke up so as to keep the damages caused by his surprise and confusion to a minimum.

"**Damn it!**" shouted Naruto, having been told about the Fourth Great Ninja War and his role (or lack thereof) in it. "How the hell can I get out of here?"

"You can't," Marasu responded, suddenly appearing in the open doorway.

"What do you mean I can't? Who are you anyway?" questioned Naruto furiously.

"I am Commander Ryu Marasu, representing the five captains of the Ryu Mercenaries as well as the Raikage, leader of the Joint Shinobi Army. As such, I am obligated to keep you here for your safety. Do you have any _more_ questions?" Marasu replied coldly.

"Yeah, what makes you think that you _can_ keep me here?" challenged Naruto *Ox – Tiger* "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

As Naruto and his two shadow clones began forming a rasenshuriken, Marasu signaled to someone in the hallway. Tomoya walked into view from around the corner with his viola and bow in his hands and he started to play a song. When they heard the song that Tomoya was playing, the rasenshuriken that Naruto and his shadow clones had been making faded and Naruto felt his chakra stop flowing.

"It's a Gungaku Clan secret technique, an auditory genjutsu that causes its victims to lose their ability to generate chakra. The only setbacks are that Tomoya can't fight while using the genjutsu, the genjutsu affects everyone who hears it, and…" Marasu's fists burst into flames, "it has no effect on the tone-deaf."

"(If I can't make _my own_ chakra, then I'll just borrow some.) That won't be a problem," Naruto commented arrogantly as he prepared to enter Sage Mode.

But nothing happened.

"I'm assuming that you just tried to use that Frog Power thing that you used on Pain. As I'm sure you've just realized, that won't work here. I did my research and learned that, in order to use some of your more destructive techniques, you utilize the chakra of nature. Well, we are about five hundred feet under a mountain and everything in the garden died many years ago. There is no nature down here for you to borrow chakra from," explained Marasu with confidence.

"Damn it. **Then here comes 'Plan B!**' (I hope that the Kyuubi can't hear that damn song…)" shouted Naruto, enveloping himself in the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Marasu rolled his eyes. "Now _how_ could I _possibly_ have seen _that_ coming?" he said sarcastically, forming a hand seal with his still-flaming hands. *Dragon* "Dragon Animation Jutsu!"

The flames that were dancing on Marasu's hands suddenly changed shape into a ten foot long flaming dragon, which circled its body around Marasu's knees and watched Naruto intensely.

Naruto flinched away from Marasu asking, "What the hell is that thing!"

"It's a dragon, dumbass. Do you still wanna fight me, or are you ready to talk things through?"

"Are you joking? I'll kick your…"

The dragon showed its teeth and started growling at Naruto.

"… Uh… let's talk first, then I'll decide whether I want to fight you or not…" offered Naruto out of fear as he dispelled his shadow clones and stopped the flow of the Nine Tailed Fox's chakra.

"Good decision," stated Marasu, releasing his Dragon Animation Jutsu, "Let's go to the command center to talk. Thanks for the help, Tomoya," Marasu added with a casual salute.

"Any time, bro," said Tomoya, giving Marasu a similar salute as he stopped playing his viola and walked down the hallway to get back to his bedroom.

"Let's go, Uzumaki-san," said Marasu, leading the way to the command center.

When they arrived at the fortress's command center, Naruto found that it was a long, torch lit room with a conference table in front and a personal desk near the back. The room was already somewhat littered with official-looking reports and documents. Marasu sat down in an armchair that sat behind the personal desk and invited Naruto to sit in the far simpler chair on the other side of the desk.

"I understand why you want to leave, Naruto," Marasu started, "if I was you, I would feel the same way. Since I _am_ obligated to keep you here, I do feel like the least that I could do for you is to let you protect the people that you care about."

"How can you do that?" asked Naruto hopefully.

Marasu looked down at a piece of paper on his desk.

"I have, right here, a letter that I am going to have my clansman, Jakobi, deliver to the Raikage. In it, I ask the Raikage for a small team to help me to protect you and Killer Bee-san. This letter is, however, incomplete. I would like you to provide me with some of the names," Marasu explained.

"(That means that I'm going to be forced to choose who does and doesn't get saved)… how many names can I give you?" asked Naruto nervously.

"You can give me as many names as you want to. However, I don't think that it would be wise for me to write down any more than six," Marasu replied far more coldly than before.

"… How much time do I have to think about it?"

"About five minutes."

"**What! You expect me to choose which of my friends will be protected in five minutes!**" exclaimed the overwhelmed ninja.

"I'm sorry that I have to do this to you, but if we want to be absolutely sure that we don't request anyone who is already dead, I need to get this letter to Jakobi as soon as possible."

"Alright then (I better just name the first people who come to mind)… Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Gaara, Kankurou, Temari, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Might Guy, Hatake Kakashi, Sai, and Uchiha Sasuke."

"I can't request Gaara, Kankurou, or Hatake Kakashi because all three of them are field generals. I also can't request Uchiha Sasuke because he is not a part of the Joint Shinobi Army. Sai is a member of the Root organization, which the Ryu Mercenaries have had some… trouble with in the past, so I will not be requesting him. While I have nothing against Rock Lee or Might Guy, I have read reports that claim that they would be even more likely to try to leave this fortress than you are, so I can't really justify requesting them. That leaves us with Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Temari, Tenten, and Hyuuga Neji (that fits my plan well enough)."

"Fine then…"

Marasu wrote down the names and moved to light the letter on fire with a nearby torch.

"**What the hell are you doing!**" Naruto cried out in terror.

"I'm sending the letter to Jakobi. This is one of my jutsu. When I burn the letter with this torch, it will disappear instead of turning into ashes and will rematerialize in Jakobi's campfire. It's a very useful technique, maybe I'll teach it to you at some point," explained Marasu as he burned the letter. "Now, it's time for _you_ to go to the library to meet with my friend, Mai. She'll talk to you about how you and your friends will be spending your time here."

"Alright, I'll trust you," Naruto replied as he walked out of the door, only to walk back in a second later. "Uhh… where exactly _is_ the library?" he asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Honestly, I have _no_ idea. The fortress is a circle though, so just choose a direction and look for the room that has a ton of books in it," answered Marasu vaguely.

"… Thanks… I guess…"

Naruto found the library three rooms to the right of the command center.

(Wow, that guy must be _terrible_ with directions,) he thought.

Upon entering the library, Naruto began searching for whoever it was that was supposed to be meeting him here.

Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from behind him. Naruto turned around just in time to get nailed in the face by a book thrown by none other than Hoshi Mai, who proceeded to double over laughing when she noticed that her attack had succeeded in knocking Naruto unconscious.

Author's Note(s):

Before you ask, yes, I do feel the need to have Naruto knocked-out by the end of every chapter that he is a part of so far.

Please review. Since the first review of this story I have had one more review (written by one of my friends)… out of 297 hits. That's about one-third of one percent. Please review, I _want_ to hear what you have to say about this story.

Also, I might start drawing pictures of things from this story depending on how much free time I have during classes (lectures = free-time).

Please review or I will get Mai to throw a book at you.


End file.
